STEP Benchmark (STEP BM)

Duration

since 2017

Mission

Neutral and standardized formats are becoming increasingly important to product development processes at leading companies. These formats are used not only to exchange data with partner companies but also in downstream processes.

STEP AP242 (ISO10303-242) provides specifications for a variety of these areas and numerous use cases. The aim of the STEP AP242 benchmark, conducted jointly by the French AFNeT and the prostep ivip Association, is to test implementations of the STEP AP242 standard from various software vendors on the basis of documented use cases and to document the results.

Milestones 2018

A new business model was created for the STEP AP242 benchmark and agreed on by AFNeT, prostep ivip and the participants in the benchmark in order to make it possible to respond more flexibly to new requirements and new system versions. This included agreeing on contents, deadlines and financing.

Functionality in the CAD field is tested by AFNeT and is based on the features tested in the CAx Implementor Forum. Implementations for AP242 XML are tested jointly by AFNeT and prostep ivip on the basis of use cases provided by the PDM Implementor Forum.

Outlook 2019

A STEP AP242 benchmark will be performed in 2019 using the new business model. The individual test cases will be finalized by the PDM IF at the beginning of the year and will serve as input for the benchmark. The figure below provides an overview of the planned timeframes and will be updated during the course of the year.